In line with the e-Government Master Plan for Nigeria to train more public servants, the Federal Government has trained 1,376 public servants and 48 Ministries, Departments and Agencies on Digitisation.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, gave the figures at the Closing Ceremony of the 2021 Service Wide Capacity Building Programme on e-Government that took place at the e-Government Training Centre, Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Abuja.
“Due to COVID19, we couldn’t train as much as we expected. In the year 2020, we trained 486 public servants while in 2021, we trained 890 public servants making a total of 1,376 public servants trained so far, Pantami said.
In her remarks, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi- Esan, she thanked the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy for responding to the yearnings of the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
She made mention of how Nigeria Communications Commission donated 100 computers including other supports from Galaxy Backbone and National Information Technology Development Agency.
She express the hope that in 2022, the office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation will record lots of success on Digitisation.
In his remarks, the Director- General/CEO of National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said that Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) of the Ministry is able to achieve change and leverage technology in building a vibrant digital economy.
“To achieve this vibrant digital economy, there is a need to build the capacity of civil servants that will drive and provide services to citizens and implement the e-Government Masterplan, Kashifu said.
He further said that as part of its plans for 2022, the center is targeting to train more civil servants, commencing executive capacity building for top-level decisions and policymakers such as permanent secretaries, CEOs of parastatals, and legislative members, and starting capacity building for both federal and state public servants outside Abuja.
He listed some of the benefits the training will provide to the civil servants in 2022 to include:
• Recognizing the opportunities e-government can bring and identify and prioritize where technology can be best applied to drive efficiencies, enable change and improve service delivery for Citizens
• Understanding and analyzing where to apply technologies appropriately to enable a digital transformation that serves the Department and citizens
• Developing and implementing a ‘Channel Shift’ strategy to encourage Citizens to take up and move to the most efficient e-enabled services
Other dignitaries at the event include Permanent Secretary, Engr Bako Nabasu, Director General, heads of parastatals under the Ministry and the Coordinator of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Abuja.
The renovated and equipped training centre, located within the premises of the Public Servant Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) for the training of public servants on e-Government in Nigeria was handed over on 18th November 2019 to the Federal Government by the government of the Republic of Korea through its aid agency, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KICOA).
